


baby, ‘cause you’re the reason to be jolly

by stevebuckiest



Series: the sub steve book club [12]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Banter, Beefy Bucky Barnes, Body Image, Bottom Steve Rogers, Chocolate, Christmas Eve, Christmas Lingerie, Christmas Presents, Dom Bucky Barnes, Gloves, Holiday Sweaters, Insecurity, M/M, Memories, No Feminization, Nostalgia, Sappy Ending, Sentimental, Sub Steve Rogers, Teasing, Top Bucky Barnes, Traditions, also in lingerie, and also love and laughter, because relationships have plenty of stupid sex, big dick bucky barnes, buildup to a stupid situation, in lingerie, trying new things!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:28:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevebuckiest/pseuds/stevebuckiest
Summary: Bucky blinks and has to try very hard to keep his jaw from going slack and making him do something stupid, like flounder like a fish. What ends up coming out of his mouth, though...it might be dumb, but that’s how he’s feeling right now with the sight he’s got set on the bed in front of him.“Shit,” he breathes out, ending in a breathless laugh. On the bed, Steve doesn’t look like he can form even a single word to match Bucky’s half assed greeting, not with how hard he’s gaping at Bucky where he’s towering over him, outfit front and center like was intended.Bucky can’t blame him. Not when what Steve’s got on is essentially doing the same thing to Bucky on the bed below.So much for being nervous about wearing lingerie being an unacceptable present to give each other, huh?(in which steve and bucky are nostalgic, christmas eve gift giving goes different than planned, and great minds accidentally think alike)
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: the sub steve book club [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1891096
Comments: 7
Kudos: 82





	baby, ‘cause you’re the reason to be jolly

**Author's Note:**

> twas the night before christmas...
> 
> this is the second christmas fic i promised! a bit lighter hearted than the first, and only related to it in a blink or you’ll miss it callback line. even within the already slept on realm of dom bucky and sub steve, there’s a deplorable lack of bucky dressing up pretty as well. this remedies that a little, because i couldn’t resist making these motherfuckers be corny with their presents.

Living as two men plucked from one century to the next, there’s obviously not a lot of things that Bucky and Steve have exactly been able to hold to besides each other (and even that has been hard enough with everything that’s been tossed at them). Their family, friends, most things familiar- they’ve all been lost to the flow of time that the two of them got so jarringly snatched out of, and although they’ve found their way back together, there’s pretty much no way for them to get back _home_ in the extension of which that term is relevant to them outside the other (because home being a person is a sentiment Bucky knows is sappy, but he just can’t not share). 

They can move back in their old apartment lot, but by now it’s been filled by a different building. Bucky can (and does) visit his nieces, but by now they’re older than him with children of their own that their mothers- Bucky’s _sisters_ never lived to see born. Steve can go back to where he used to attend art school, but he’s no longer a student, he’s the namesake of a wing where his old submission sketches can be seen hung up on the walls even though he had never been able to graduate.

There’s a lot of New York that hasn’t changed- it’s still recognizable in the way the streets twist and turn, the way people are always rushing about- but most of it serves as nothing but a phantom memory filled by things that aren’t but still seem out of place. At least to Steve and Bucky, although Bucky knows the out of place sentiment is more applicable to them than it is anything else. 

He knows the two of them have changed a good amount as well, but some additional trauma, scruff, and a metal arm can’t be more jarring to Steve than the entire _world_ being flipped upside down, Bucky wouldn’t say (although coming back from the dead is a different matter). As for Bucky himself...well, he’s had some practice in getting used to big changes when it comes to Steve, hasn’t he? 

The serum wasn’t exactly something to turn his nose up at, but it wasn’t a walk in the park either. For all that Bucky had tried to play it off with smiles and smirks and sly lines, he’d been taken off guard enough by the physical change to have to sit down a few times and wrap his head (and hands) around Steve’s new body. Even knowing his mind hadn’t changed, it was still a trip testing the waters with what they could do now with it and what they no longer couldn’t (although for the record, Steve’s size hadn’t stopped them from doing much with how stubborn he still was- nearly broke Bucky’s teeth trying to crawl on his lap, but they still eventually made it work). 

Even with all that’s changed in and around them, they make it work. Bucky still loves him as fiercely as ever, and on the days where his paranoia isn’t acting up (which is a steadily increasing number with the wonders of therapy) Bucky knows Steve loves him equally right back. They’ve accepted the changes they’ve had piled upon them for the most part, and they’re doing their best not to try too hard to live in the past or obsess over getting back to it, making friends and a new life here together and apart- but with that being said, that doesn’t mean nostalgia still isn’t the easiest way to hit them both hard in the softest of spots. 

Steve might get annoyed about people constantly trying to get him to regale in what they often refer to as _the good ol’ days_ and Bucky might hate the idea of people expecting him to be exactly who he used to- but fuck, sharing memories with each other, seeing something still around from when they grew up together, a reminder of something between the two of thrm that’s remained from how they used to be? Steve might be the easier crier of the two of them, but it’s almost always enough to get Bucky weepy as well if it catches him in the right headspace. 

They’re not exactly the most traditional of couples (even with all the jokes about Steve’s being an old man or a stick in the mud- have these people _met_ him? One dry language joke and they think he’s the Virgin Mary) but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy keeping a few of those around to make where they are now a bit more homey. Especially during the winter holidays, seeing as that used to be the Barnes and Rogers families’ favorite time of the year, adults and kids alike. 

Sarah might have not had much in terms of being able to celebrate the material way as Bucky’s folks had had during good years, but she always tried her hardest to make it the best for Steve (and by extension, Bucky). She never shied away from what others might’ve considered charity when Winifred gave Steve presents like he was one of her own, just rustled up a gift for Bucky to go right along with that- who would she be to deny her son of a happy Christmas by looking a literal gift horse in the mouth? Even when money got tight for them all, they made it work. Christmas dinner every year with Steve and Sarah at the Barnes’s make up some of Bucky’s happiest memories.

They can’t exactly have a giant family dinner the way they had back then (although Bucky has already coordinated with Beck to go over with Steve to deliver presents from them to the kids once they get back from visiting the other side of their relatives) but that doesn’t mean they can’t keep a few other traditions that have managed to not slip in the cracks of time. 

Watching _A Christmas Carol_ now that they can afford it, wrapping each others’ gifts in the most absurd newspaper headlines they can find, listening to old tunes on the record player while they decorate (Bucky even has plans to slip an orange in Steve’s stocking the night before Christmas just to pay homage to how George had always done the same)- it’s not enough to make Bucky feel like they’re trying to recreate something they’ll never be able to get back, but it is enough to enhance their home and hearts with things that make the both of them feel a bit closer to what they’ve lost during a time of year when celebrating things like friends and family used to be (and still is despite what commercialization and media might make people think) the most important thing to do. 

And speaking of traditions enhancing things….well, that’s what gets Bucky to where he is now, which happens to be standing in the guest bedroom’s bathroom staring at himself in the mirror and wondering if what he’s got on is a desecration to the season or the best gift he’ll ever give. Christ, if Bucky was still religious, he’d bet his ma would probably be rolling in her grave if she knew what her holiday tradition was inspiring her son to get up to now. Though getting up, all things considered, is definitely not a hard thing for Bucky to do right now. Not with what he’s got on. 

The tradition in question isn’t actually very unique to them or their families, Bucky knows a good amount of people (even with the sparse number he speaks to nowadays) that have something similar in their celebrations. Opening up a present on Christmas Eve is a fairly normal thing to do even in modern times, apparently. Although Bucky’s present for Steve tonight is a little less conventional and a _whole_ lot less modest than things like tradition and nostalgia between them usually suggest. 

Sue him, he wanted to branch out. 

Frowning at himself slightly in the mirror, Bucky turns to the side just to check out how his waist looks in the mirror. _Branching out_ is a spot on term, because although he’s done a whole lot of things since the forties that he hadn’t before, it’s definitely still the first time for him doing _this._

_This,_ of course, being putting on lingerie for his guy. Head to toe, the whole shebang- or at least, it would have been if the goddamn thigh highs he’d bought hadn’t split a seam when he finally got them up above his knee. Listen, he knows most of the items people sell that are considered lingerie are made for body types that are not his (believe him, he _knows_ with how hard it’d been to find something to fit his lower half that didn’t have his dick hanging out even while he’s soft) but it’s still a damn shame that it’d kinda cramped his style in terms of what he was going for with the whole _sexy Santa_ thing. 

All things in mind, he thinks he did a pretty okay job even with the setbacks. Tight red cropped tank sheer enough to see his nipples and chest hair through, red lace boy short panties (bought off a lingerie site made specifically for men, because he’d _finally_ found one after about two hours of looking) with white trim edging the bottoms, leather belt slung around his waist just for effect, black gloves and knee high socks pulled up to fill in for the thigh highs that went amiss...it’s not exactly the daintiest of outfits that Bucky knows people might expect if they knew he was dressing up like this for Steve, but it suits his personal style perfectly. A nice mix of masculine and feminine alike, leather and lace to go along with that- Bucky had been going for a more subtle effect, anyways. 

He knows he’s corny sometimes when it comes to the pet names and lines meant to make Steve blush, but he’s not corny enough for half the sexy Santa outfits he’d seen pop up on his first Google search. He’d foregone wearing the Santa hat he knows they have lying around somewhere just because of those images. It would have messed with his hair, anyways, and he’s not going to be having that with how long it’d taken him to get the frizz out- he wants to look nice tonight, god damn it. He’s trying his best- it’s his first time doing anything like this, after all. 

Lingerie is more up Steve’s alley to wear than his, usually, but Christmas is the time for surprises, right? Hopefully Steve considers getting Bucky in an outfit like this without even having to ask surprise enough. 

Bucky squints at his profile in the glass where he’s still looking, smoothing a gloved hand down over his midsection and briefly feeling insecure about the dark thatch of hair showing through the lace that he finds when his palm nears his belt buckle. He’d thought about shaving everywhere tonight, but that’s not really his thing. He likes having body hair, likes having a beard, because that’s an option that he has now where the Soldier didn’t. 

He knows _Steve_ likes his body in whatever way he keeps it (and has shown an affinity for how it is right now more than once) but that still doesn’t stop him from scrutinizing himself even if it does help him to settle on shifting his focus away from that and back onto what he’s supposed to be doing right now, getting ready. 

He and Steve agreed to take an hour to get their gifts ready to exchange in their room. Thankfully Steve had been seemingly too preoccupied with getting his own together to wonder why Bucky was taking a duffel bag to the guest bathroom, which is good. Bucky would hate to spoil the surprise, especially when he’s still psyching himself up to go through with it in the first place. 

Bucky isn’t afraid to admit he can enjoy how men look in lingerie and outfits like he has on right now, and he’s pretty sure Steve feels the same way, but fucking his boyfriend while he’s in a garter and supporting him whenever he deciding to start wearing prettier underthings outside the bedroom- that’s one thing. Wearing said pretty underthings is a completely different matter, even if Bucky doesn’t have plans of getting fucked (for tonight, at least. He’s man enough to admit he enjoys it both ways in terms of physicality). 

Honestly, he thinks that might be part of the reason he’s feeling a bit on edge right now- he’s watched a healthy amount of gay porn since regaining himself and delving back into a relationship with Steve, and he knows that those videos aren’t anything to go off of...but he can’t help but bear in mind the fact that he’s never seen a single instance of the more dominant partner wearing lingerie even in the instances of finding videos with the semi-rare occurrence of men in lingerie in the first place- especially ones as muscular as them. 

He’s probably just not searching the right things, but he said he’d watched a _healthy_ amount. He’s not exactly a porn connoisseur. However he is (and if memory serves right, always has been) the leading hand in the bedroom in most cases, which is more than perfectly fine. It’s how they both like it, even if strict domination isn’t how they always play things in that part of their relationship.

There’s a lot of thought that he’s put into what he likes, why he likes it, has even had talks with his therapist about why the exchange of trust and control is good for him- he’s far past being ashamed about it all, especially when it was how they were even before the serums. He knows he and Steve have done objectively odder things in the bedroom than break out of porn stereotypes of roles Bucky isn’t sure even really exist. He’s just getting in his own head, as per usual. 

Which he doesn’t have _time_ for right now, not when his hour is almost up. Jesus, it’s been that long already?

Bucky takes in a deep breath and braces both hands on the counter, metal and flesh fingers flexing under the gloves he’d donned in lieu of continuity and catering to the love for feeling Bucky in leather against his skin they both know Steve holds. Realistically, that’s what all of the outfit was donned for. It’s made up of things Bucky knows Steve likes (the biggest thing being just Bucky himself) and Bucky knows that- he takes in another deep breath. He’s fine. He’s got this. He’s a confident person. 

All that confidence doesn’t keep him from having to shed a glove to splash his face with water and comb through his beard, though. Serum and all, he’s still only human. 

In the end, he dries off his hand before replacing the glove and using it to adjust the belt sitting lazily on his waist. He looks up again just to make sure it’s the amount of casually lopsided and lazy he wants, catching sight of himself in the mirror in the process and smiling at his reflection reassuringly. Insecurities aside about weird hangups and the possibilities of reception, he knows he looks damn good. 

He picked out everything he has on for a reason. The tank top to show of his shoulders and chest, the belt to show off his waist, panties to highlight everything contained inside, socks to show off his thighs, gloves to draw attention to his forearms- he looks good. He feels good. Now he’s just got to follow through on his plans and go make his baby feel good as well. 

With that thought in mind, he gives himself a final once over and nods approvingly in the mirror before turning away to flip the bathroom lights off, exit the bathroom, and make his way on over across the hall to their shut bedroom door where Steve is presumably waiting to give Bucky his own present inside. Unsure of whether he’s ready or not, Bucky decides to know rather than just barge inside guns blazing (although if he’s honest that move might also be to give _himself_ a chance to get fully ready for what he’s about to give as well). 

He raps his hand on the door, thuds muted by the leather covering his knuckles. “Steve? You good for me to come in?”

The response takes a moment to come, and when it does, the blonde sounds just as hesitant as Bucky’s gut has him feeling. He must be a bit nervous about what he’s giving as well, as if Bucky won’t cherish _anything_ as long as it comes from him. “Yeah, Buck. I’m ready. You can come on in whenever.” 

Bucky smiles, small and private. Steve is sweet- and there’s no going back now, not when Bucky already has his fingers on the doorknob and is twisting it to push open so he can step inside to the familiar territory of their room and be greeted by the even more familiar sight of Steve’s face waiting inside. 

Only Steve’s face isn’t the only thing Bucky is welcomed with. Not by a longshot. 

Bucky blinks and has to try very hard to keep his jaw from going slack and making him do something stupid, like flounder like a fish. What ends up coming out of his mouth, though...it might be dumb, but that’s how he’s feeling right now with the sight he’s got set on the bed in front of him. 

“ _Shit_ ,” he breathes out, ending in a breathless laugh. On the bed, Steve doesn’t look like he can form even a single word to match Bucky’s half assed greeting, not with how hard he’s gaping at Bucky where he’s towering over him, outfit front and center like was intended. 

Bucky can’t blame him. Not when what Steve’s got on is essentially doing the same thing to Bucky on the bed below.

So much for being nervous about wearing lingerie being an unacceptable present to give each other, huh?

After another few moments of awkwardly heated staring, Bucky finally clears his throat and goes to speak again while Steve remains speechless, voice hoarse with arousal and amusement both. “Well,” he says slowly, eyes trailing down Steve’s body. “I guess we took the being on the same wavelength thing a little too far, huh?” He laughs again after. 

Steve cracks a small smile and lets out a laugh of his own even while his face is still blushing as red as the satin topped teddy he’s got on. “Guess so,” he echoes, soft and so shy that Bucky can’t help but lean down to kiss him with a tender touch that pauses everything else there is to say until both of their mouths finally part after a few moments. After, though…

Bucky smiles into the kiss and lowers a knee on the bed to push himself up and Steve back until he’s kneeled successfully between Steve’s legs with the younger spread out on his back underneath. He looks amazing and Bucky hasn’t even gotten a full look yet- he will, though, as soon as he talks Steve through accommodating both of what their plans were for the evening since their accidental copy-catting has thrown them both off for a beat- not that Bucky is mad about that or anything about this (admittedly hilarious) situation. How can he be when Steve is looking like that right in front of him, right _up_ at him with a worshipful as if Bucky is the best thing he’s ever seen in his life?

Bucky’s pretty sure he has his own version of that look plastered on his face right now- a hungry one, maybe. Great minds think alike, right? Right. 

Steve’s outfit is a little different than Bucky’s though. He’d managed to pull on a pair of white thigh highs where Bucky couldn’t, smooth skin underneath giving way to rise up to the hem of a pair of the prettiest panties Bucky has seen him in to date- and then there’s the teddy he’s got on (at least Bucky thinks that’s what it’s called- he’s not exactly an expert), thin strapped and bright Christmas red with a satin bow cut to appear tied across his chest and strategically placed gaps that expose the ample bottom of his pecs right above the line of the mesh lower half of the piece, set to fall down to the tops of his thighs without doing a lick of work to hide at anything underneath with the material. And what _is_ underneath...well, that’s always a sight and half, but like this? Bucky’s seen Steve in a number of pretty outfits, but- like he’d said earlier about himself, this is the whole shebang. 

The whole package, because as Bucky noses down to kiss at the contrast of Steve’s broad shoulders under the thin straps set against them, he notices for the first time the ribbon that he’s got tied around to fasten in a bow at the slender nape of his neck, and- oh, jesus. Is that a tag? Bucky’s almost positive it’s a tag. 

Can’t hurt to ask, though. Probably will even _help_. So, with that thought in mind, he pulls back to sit on his knees again and tries not to get too sidetracked by the way Steve bites his already red lips and eyes at the slightly soft skin of Bucky’s love-handles swelling over the elastic of his panties. 

“Stevie,” he says, voice coming out lower than usual. “What exactly do you have around that neck of yours?”

Steve blinks up at him like the question has caught him off guard. “Oh,” he says, voice slightly sheepish. “Um- well, the whole point of this was gonna be me making a joke about being your present so…” he trails off, breath hitching at the lazy smile and love bite Bucky leans down to give him before he goes on. “S’probably dumb, but- what’s a present without a gift tag for you to know who it’s for?”

“And you’re for me, huh?” Bucky murmurs, coop leather sliding under Steve’s head to give his enough support for Bucky to crane it up and get a good look at the aforementioned gift tag. Upon closer inspection, Bucky can see what’s written on it- and what’s written on it happens to be his own name, slapped on in Steve’s swoopy scrawl. Jesus. 

Steve swallows, but lets Bucky take as long of a look as he likes. “I’m always for you, Buck,” he says softly. “I’m _yours_.” Then, smiling only the slightest bit self consciously, “Just thought I’d take the opportunity to give you a reminder suitable to the season, you know?”

“Oh, I _know_ , baby,” Bucky hums, sliding his other hand up under the hem of Steve’s teddy to splay across the flat plane of his stomach. “Looks like we had the same idea, although I’ll admit my theme was a little different than yours.” 

“My ma told me about Santa Claus, but I wasn’t under the impression he’d be so handsome,” Steve jokes, sighing out when Bucky grips his neck tighter and scrapes a kiss over the sensitive skin of his pulse point. His eyes have fallen shut when Bucky pulls back to look at him. 

“You like me in an outfit like this?” Bucky asks lightly, doing his best to keep the apprehension out of his voice, although he must not fully succeed because Steve is peeking a reproachful blue eye open a moment later and drawing up a leg to hitch around Bucky’s back and nudge him in the side. 

“You like _me_ in an outfit like _this_?” he fires back, head tipping down to acknowledge everything he’s dolled up in. “If I didn’t, I’d be the pot calling the kettle black, Buck. You look amazing.” He traces a hand down Bucky’s exposed bicep, voice dreamy. “I love it.”

“And I love you, sugar plum,” Bucky smiles back, cradling Steve more confidently now that he knows without a doubt his gift has been accepted with open arms. _And_ open legs, with how Steve wiggles his out wider underneath him to bracket Bucky’s sides and position the bulge in Bucky’s panties nestled up right against where they both know they want it most. “So about these gift giving plans of yours…” he starts off, settling down more comfortably while he talks. “I’m assuming they’re pretty similar to mine, but you wanna check in with me just to make sure we’re on the right track?”

Personally, to Bucky, any situation where he has Steve pinned underneath him waiting for Bucky to love on him is the exact _definition_ of the right track, but a little communication can’t hurt, especially where Steve is concerned. 

Steve’s face goes shy again- he’s always been a bit closed off when it comes to vocalizing anything too sexually vulgar, even if he isn’t the old stick in the mud Stark likes to antagonize him about being (as if _Stark_ isn’t the old man out of all of them last time Bucky checked their actual ages). “Was thinking that I’d hand myself over and let you open your present up,” he eventually gets out, face redder than anything the two of them are wearing. “If that’s good by you.”

“Oh, babydoll,” Bucky murmurs, swiping over Steve’s bottom lip with his tongue to get it slick. “You’re always good by me, ain’t you? Gotta tell you though,” he slides his thumb over Steve’s shining mouth, revelling in the way Steve inhales at the taste of leather, “You were the only thing on my wish list this year anyways.” 

Steve smiles at the line, but that gives way to a gasp when Bucky pushes his thumb into his mouth glove and all. Bucky grins and pushes down on his tongue enough to get him suckling on it. He looks like a whole damn Christmas feast like this- Bucky decides to tell him as much while he’s too incapacitated to snark back. 

“Came all proper gift wrapped for me and everything, how about that? Whole damn package.” 

Bucky lets his hips shift against Steve’s the barest amount, cockhead rubbing at the thin layer of cotton lining the seam to keep him from stickying up the lace. It’s a new sensation for him to feel on his own end, but fuck if it isn’t a good one. Steve whines when Bucky presses forward enough to nudge at his cleft- poor thing is only getting pleasure through two layers instead of one. 

Bucky shushes him and shifts again just to draw out another noise, cool belt buckle hitting against Steve’s belly through the mesh of his teddy and getting him to gasp around Bucky’s thumb best he can. “My plans were to give you your present and make sure to open you up anyways,” he says lowly, gripping Steve’s hip so tight with his opposite hand he can feel the ribbons corseting the seam of Steve’s panties catching against his glove. “You’ve been a good boy this year, haven’t you?”

The last line is delivered in such a sugar sweet voice, Steve has to know Bucky is ribbing him although the praising sentiment rings true- but even with how in control Bucky is at the moment, fingers still stopping up Steve’s mouth, the crinkle in the corner of Steve’s eyes tell Bucky he’d be laughing if they werent. Bucky just laughs for him, patting his thigh under his teddy and leaning down to bite a mark where the ribbon is still tied prettily around Steve’s neck, Bucky’s name and all. 

Thinking about it while scooting Steve up the bed, it’s almost like a goddamn collar- and jesus, if Steve’s wearing Bucky’s tags during the war was enough to get him riled up, knowing Steve had labelled _himself_ Bucky’s and tied the reminder around his own neck is a whole different league of hot and bothered Bucky didn’t know he could get to with how far up he is now looking at Steve laid out pretty underneath him. 

The panties being made for men do a pretty good job keeping his dick mostly inside, but although Bucky’s not a bragger about size (usually, anyways), he knows that if he sits on this any longer they won’t be doing the trick anymore. So, pulling his thumb from Steve’s mouth with a smile and smear of his own spit against his chin, he sits back and snorts when Steve huffs at the loss. 

“Don’t be a brat when you’re so close to getting what you want, sweetheart,” he teases, loosening one of Steve’s legs from around his waist and bending it back enough to press a chaste kiss to his ankle bone through the sheer fabric of his thigh highs. “Just wanna move to a more comfortable position. Climb up the bed for me and let me get us both situated.”

Steve pouts for a second, but nods and does as he’s told (for once) a moment later. “Yes _sir_.”

Bucky admires Steve’s ass for a second while the other man moves up, but follows through soon enough until he’s propped up on the pillows with Steve kneeling by his side expectantly. Waiting to be told where to move. Bucky strings him out for the order long enough for him to reach over and grab a hair tie from the nightstand to pull his hair out of his face- listen, as long as it had taken to tame, he’s easing out of the opening number of tonight’s act. Steve has already been won, right now it’s time for him to get _done._

Bucky leans up against the headboard and pats his thighs for Steve to clamber onto, hefty weight settling down until they’re both eye to eye for the first time since Bucky entered the room for the gift exchange. Bucky would say the exchange is going pretty well with how his dick is pressing against Steve ass and how Steve’s is tenting in his panties- but it’s his smile that really seals the deal. No one gets this version of Steve’s smile (or dress) but Bucky Barnes. 

“You like your present?” he asks, slipping the thumb of his glove under Steve’s shoulder strap while Steve curls a thumb of his own under Bucky’s belt where he’s holding on to his waist. 

Steve leans forward and presses a kiss to Bucky’s sternum, right through the mesh of the tank top he’s still got on. “Whole lot,” he hums, wiggling down more eagerly to situate himself. “You?”

“What you’ve got on is something spectacular,” Bucky says thoughtfully, slipping a hand up into the cutout under Steve’s pec to grope at him with a playful squeeze. “But what’s underneath is the best present I could ask for.”

Steve smiles and tips his head forward once Bucky moves his hand from his shoulder to instead grip across the back of his neck over the tag bearing his name, possessiveness of it making the blonde go even more pliant. “Don’t you wanna open me up? Like you said?” He sounds hopeful. 

Bucky laughs, infinitely grateful they both have the room to do that no matter how charged up things get in here. “I’m getting there.” Then, peering down pointedly at Steve’s cock straining at his underwear, “Looks like my gift came fully charged, though, huh?”

Steve lets out a groan that turns into a grunt when Bucky pinches his nipple to finish off the tease. “Buck- c’mon, I put this on for you to fuck me, not for you to-“

“It’s my present,” Bucky interrupts. “Means I get to enjoy it how I want. And I’m enjoying having you squirming on my lap plenty, for now.” It doesn’t hurt he’s feeling a little lazy and smug the way he always does when he’s domming Steve or in control (which is admittedly every time they have sex, but like the both of them in general, it never gets old). 

Steve huffs, but doesn’t snap back so much as whine. “What about _my_ present?” 

“Oldest goes first, ain’t that the tradition?” Steve scowls and Bucky tugs on a strand of his hair, knowing the frustration is purely of the sexual sort. “Greedy thing, aren’t you, pal?”

“S’not greedy if I’m asking for what’s already mine, Buck.” Even handing himself over like this, Steve can still be a punk. Bucky loves it, and he’ll let it slide tonight considering they’re doing all this in the name of festivity. 

“Fair enough,” he concedes. “How about this, sweetheart?” He slides his hand down to grip at Steve’s ass while he talks, unspoken reprimand for all the attitude. “You let me have my fun and sit that pretty ass on my face so I can get a good look at my gift. And maybe, while I enjoy myself, you can do what you do best and bend on over to do the same with my cock, yeah?”

It isn’t what Steve wants exactly- not yet, Bucky is planning to _thoroughly_ enjoy all of tonight- but it’s enough to get him nodding, cheeks stained and eyes blown. “ _Yeah_. Yeah, Buck, please.”

Bucky kisses him- always kisses him before they take a break from being up close- and pats his ass. “Turn yourself around, then. Need that pretty ass up in the air so I can lay down.”

Normally, Steve wouldn’t be letting him do this out in the open- it’s one of his quirks, being too embarrassed by the sight and sound of Bucky eating him out, putting his mouth _there,_ to have him do it where he can see. Bucky’s grown accustomed to indulging him by doing it underneath the covers instead (which has actually helped increase his lung capacity, but he won’t be telling Shield’s staff the reason for that) but the one exception from the (literal) blanket rule is this. Steve won’t be able to see or have much time to be embarrassed with how preoccupied he’ll be himself. 

His face and neck are still blushing beet red when he gets on all fours for a brief moment to let Bucky slide down underneath him, though. Bucky smiles and strokes his thigh once he’s flat on his back where he wants, hand on his hip already set to guide Steve back down where he wants him. But first...

“Take the belt off me, sweetheart. I don’t want the buckle poking at you.” He knows Steve wouldn’t speak up about the discomfort once they get in the moment, but for now he obeys, wrangling the buckle open to slide out from under Bucky and lay on the bed next to them. “Good boy,” Bucky says. 

Steve hums in response and kisses his hip bone. “Love you,” he says, voice almost dreamy. 

Bucky smiles and does the same, pressing a kiss to the back of Steve’s thigh above the seam of his stockings. “Love you back.”

“Can I…?”

“Yeah, angel. Sit back for me, right on my face. I’ve got you.” Bucky grips Steve with both hands, clamped and controlled to help guide him back until the mesh backing of his panties is meeting right against Bucky’s mouth in the most intimate of kisses. 

Steve’s breath hitches as soon as he feels the touch, but it’s only when he looks back over his shoulder to see Bucky’s still gloved hands ruck up the delicate fabric of his teddy up his back that he finally moans and twists back to burn his own face in the panties covering Bucky’s cock to mouth at it in a messy kiss. 

Bucky’s own moan follows when the sensation of it shoots through him. “ _Fuck_ ,” he breaths out, right against the part of Steve’s cheeks. He flicks out his tongue to press the mesh right up against him, scratchy and slick once he pulls away only to dive back in and do it all over again. Steve’s tongue down below moves steadier, lapping at Bucky’s tip while he slips his mouth lower and starts to suckle around the head through red lace. 

Bucky said he wanted to get a good look at his gift, and like this- Steve face down on his cock, ass up and thighs trembling around Bucky’s sides with every lick, smooth expanse of his back above him, all with satin and lace encasing them on show- it’s as up close and personal as he can get. 

Now it’s time for him to do what he promised and enjoy himself- so, with that thought in mind, that’s exactly what he does, going in like he wants and drinking Steve’s noises in with a fervor. 

He doesn’t move the mesh aside- why should he when the feeling of it against Steve’s hole is getting the blonde gasping and panting out muffled pleas against Bucky’s cock? Even when Steve eventually uses weak hands to get Bucky’s cock free and properly swallow him down, Bucky ignores the opportunity of doing that himself to grip at Steve’s thighs with hands of his own that only go tighter when Steve sputters around the length of him as Bucky propes his tongue deeper into his hole, backs of his panties slipped between his cheeks. 

“Bucky,” Steve whispers once he comes back up, hoarse voice going high into a moan, “Bucky, please- _Please_.”

Bucky pulls away enough to take a breath and snap the waistband of Steve’s underwear against his hip. “Please what, sweets?” He’s being mean, he knows that. He’s perfectly aware of what Steve wants, but he won’t be fully getting it for a while- not while Bucky has more of his gift to enjoy. 

They haven’t even _gotten_ to his tits, and those came with a bow and everything. 

Steve groans and strokes at Bucky’s cock in an attempt to win him over, but Bucky is still silent aside from the long exhale the motion pulls from him. Steve tries again. “Please- want you to fuck me- want you to touch my cock-“

“I will,” Bucky shushes him, smoothing a hand up under his stomach until it rests over Steve’s erection, practically dripping even through the lace with how it’s gone neglected. “Oh, I will, honey. But not yet. We have things to do, first. You’ll get yours in the end, promise.”

Steve knows damn well Bucky always makes good on his promises, but the catch of the deal doesn’t go unnoticed even to his arousal addled brain. “What do you want me to do? S’- I’ll do whatever it is, Buck, please just- want you to fuck me.”

God, he really must be gagging for it if he isn’t even arguing back. Bucky wants to groan at how goddamn _good_ his boyfriend is being, but he refrains in order to keep his voice calm. “I want you to let me love on you, sweetheart. Just for a while longer. Think you can let me do that?”

Steve’s voice is thick, but he nods and gets out, “Whatever you want, Buck.”

“As long as you’re enjoying yourself too?” Bucky is pretty sure Steve is from how his body is reacting, but he just wants to check in, make sure it’s as good for him as it is Bucky- it has to be, or else the payoff will mean nothing. 

Steve might be feeling pretty strung out, but he still has it in him to turn his head and give Bucky a look that’s both exasperated and enthused. “I’m having a great time, Buck. Used to you being a tease, by now. _And_ an asshole.”

“Thought I was the one teasing _your_ asshole,” Bucky mutters, laughing when Steve bites at his thigh in retaliation. “Watch out before you end up on the naughty list.” Steve doesn’t even bother responding, just kicks at him in the side of his thigh with a dug in heel. “Fine, if you wanna be so feisty- flip over and get on your back, babydoll, let’s get this show on the road.”

Steve kisses the tip of Bucky’s cock a final time before obeying with a huff, clambering off of Bucky to crawl back up the bed and resume the place next to where Bucky was. Once Bucky does the same to the opposite end of the bed, Steve scoots to the side to lay in the warm spot where Bucky’s body just was. The movement shouldn’t be so cute, but Bucky still smiles at it regardless. It’s Christmas. He’s allowed to be a sap. 

Steve is watching him with interested eyes that only get curiouser when Bucky peels out of his underwear- a damn shame the centerpiece of his outfit has to go, but they can always get more use out of them later- and climbs up to straddle him, thick thighs on either side of Steve’s abdomen with his cock slapping against his own belly in between. 

With the way Steve is laying, flopped down and frazzled, the hem of his teddy is already flipped up enough for Bucky to get straight to the point. He pushes it up even further until it’s bunched up by Steve’s chin, pecs now proudly exposed to the cool air of their bedroom. Steve gets the hint before his nipples even finish pebbling up. 

“Oh,” he breathes out, hands flexing where they’re thrown up over his head. “You wanna…”

They’ve done this before with both their bodies, but the suggestion of the act never fails to get Steve blushing even after all this time. Bucky smiles and nods, leaning down to press a stubbly kiss to each of Steve’s pecs and then the groove in between them. “I wanna be right here.” He touches a smooth leather fingertip where his mouth just was, admiring the way it fits.

Since Steve wasn’t born with actual tits no matter how much Bucky teases him for his rack, the firm muscles of his pecs don’t leave much room for them to shift wider to the side in the way actual breasts might. Those might be softer, but thanks to the serum’s lack of change to Steve’s body hair, his chest is already smooth enough. Besides, Steve’s cleavage is so supple and sweet- who the hell is Bucky to care about what other people might have?

Steve’s lips are still red from sucking Bucky off, nipples swelling up the same color under Bucky’s hands while he pinches at them. Steve hands make their way down not to push Bucky’s off or away, but to _help-_ and oh, Bucky can’t let that sweetness go unrewarded. Never has, never will. 

He pulls his hand off just long enough to strip his flesh hand of its glove, returning it to Steve’s pec soon after and tangling with Steve’s to hold his hand still, pull his pec down taught so he can duck back down in, look up at Steve with a quick wink, and seal his mouth around the pink bud above their grip in a soft, sucking kiss. 

Steve is sighing out into the sensation as soon as it sinks in, breath hitching at the scrape of Bucky’s beard against his sensitive skin and squirming the longer it goes on. By the time Bucky decides to switch to the other side of his chest, he’s panting and ready to go on with Bucky’s suggestion. 

“Buck, c’mon,” he groans, chest pushing up tantalizingly. “Get the slick, I wanna- wanna make you feel good.”

“You always make me feel good,” Bucky says automatically, snorting when Steve whines. “Fine, fine. Don’t need much to convince me to fuck your tits, baby. You wanna take the teddy off so we don’t ruin it?” He traces the bunched up fabric with a finger. “I’d kinda like to save it for another time or two.”

Steve nods, smiling at Bucky’s consideration. They might have money now, but Bucky now knows personally that lingerie is _expensive_ and they weren’t brought up to be wasteful. “Yeah. You got the slick?”

Bucky is already bending over to get it while Steve shucks the satin lined top off. “Got it like I got you, punk.”

“Sweet talker,” Steve sighs.

“Sweet _heart_ ,” Bucky croons right back, popping open the cap with his thumb and drizzling it without warning all over Steve’s sternum. The blonde gasps at the temperature, but Bucky is quick to smear it around a little to help it warm up, doing the same a moment later with a fist around his cock. “Sorry, I know you don’t like the cold.”

Steve has several less than happy reasons for that sentiment to be true, but in this instance he waves it off and relaxes back into the pillows. “I’m fine, Buck. Swear.”

“I’ll warm you right up, anyways,” he jokes, guiding Steve’s hands to cup the sides of his chest so that the tip of Bucky’s cock has somewhere to nestle. Steve knows the drill by now, thumbing over his nipples with a sigh and squeezing them in tighter at the same time Bucky presses begins to press in, just to test the waters. Steve’s skin is so smooth, so supple- Christ, Bucky can feel his goddamn _heartbeat_ like this- and the way Steve is looking up at him…

Getting emotional in this kind of moment isn’t out of ordinary for Steve, but for Bucky- well, he can’t help but think right now that even without the traditions and gift trading, the way Steve looks at him is always going to be what really makes things feel like home, holiday or not. It’s a lot, but the way he feels about Steve always is. 

Steve has been waiting long enough, though, so Bucky doesn’t stop to tell him what he already knows, just strokes back his hair and gives him a soft smile before bracing a hand on his shoulder and giving himself enough leverage to be able to slide himself right inside the sweet cleavage of Steve’s cradled up chest. 

It’s tight enough for Bucky to have to grunt while pushing forward- his girth is nothing to shy at, but as usual, Steve’s body manages to make it work, and it’s not long before he’s fallen into a rhythm of thrusting forward, watching the momentum of it ripple through the jiggle in Steve’s chest, and rocking back only to do it all over again. This is one of Bucky’s favorite things to do with him, truth be told- watching Steve fall apart so sweetly underneath him just from Bucky playing with one of the parts of his body he’s always been shy about owning is dizzying. Steve himself has gone breathless, eyes wide and pink lips parted with every shift of Bucky’s more than substantial weight holding down on top of his chest while he lets his lover uses his body to help get himself off. 

It’s sweet, but Bucky doesn’t want to come from this act, not when Steve isn’t receiving as much pleasure from it as he could if Bucky was fucking him. Bucky could easily go more than once, but in truth one built up orgasm for him is far more satisfactory than multiple forced out. 

So, bearing that in mind, after a few minutes of chasing the sensations of Steve’s chest squeezing around him, Bucky starts to slow down and ease out further each time he rocks his hips back. 

“God, your tits, Stevie,” he curses, having to practically drag his dick away before he gives in to the urge to fuck back forward and do something to spoil his plans, like come all over Steve’s face. “Jesus fucking Christ, baby, sweet things hug me so tight. No wonder that’s what you chose to wrap up and give me tonight.”

Steve’s hands go slack once Bucky finally leans away, eyes hazily fixing on him up above. His mouth is curved into a smile. “Figured you might like this since you like ‘em plain already.”

“I like you always,” Bucky tells him, thighs flexing now that he’s put himself on the edge and taken it away. “But since I’m your present too, I’m gonna let you choose how we do this last part. I promised you’d get yours, and all.” He sits back on his haunches, black socks pressing against white stocking as he squeezes his legs in. “So what’ll it be?”

His voice is nice, but he knows he’s really being a little mean right now- Steve’s fucked out enough to have gone a little dumb in the way he does if he’s feeling sweet, and now Bucky’s broke his brain only to try and make him choose something Bucky’s known he wanted this whole time. 

Steve takes a long pause, eyes closing and scrunching up while he tries to think about it. While he’s thinking, Bucky brings his flesh hand down and tangles with Steve’s again to keep him from floating off too far. 

“On my back,” Steve eventually says, voice decided. “Missionary.”

Bucky smiles. For all that they’ve gotten up to tonight in the name of upholding tradition, they haven’t done much that’s _traditional_ (even for their less than traditional selves- Bucky’s never worn what he did tonight before) but this is something familiar to them both even outside it being deemed a more common (some might even say _boring_ ) position. 

It’s not boring, though, not to them. It was the position they first did it in all those years ago, Steve piled on top of all the pillows and blankets they owned to keep his back comfortable and Bucky bracketing over top of him to keep from pressing to hard down with his weight. Now, it’s a little different- Bucky can press down as much as he wants to and Steve’s back is strong enough for him to have goaded Bucky into doing it on the floor before- but the sentiment and the motions are still largely the same. Bucky never gets tired of being able to kiss Steve and look Steve in the eye while he’s inside him, anyways. No one in their right mind would. 

He kisses him now before climbing off and letting Steve shift enough to wrap his legs up around his waist. “Panties on or off?” he asks, placing another kiss to each of his knees. 

Steve hums and bends his ankle in to brush Bucky’s back. “Off,” he decides. “Don’t want you _accidentally_ ripping another pair.”

“Hey, last time actually _was_ an accident,” Bucky gripes good naturedly, waiting for Steve to shift the waistband of his underwear up and off until his cock is freed and Bucky can slide them down the rest of his legs to toss next to his own pair on the bed still next to them. 

“And the time before that?” Steve counters. 

“I was getting used to tweaks they made on the arm.”

“And the time before _that_?”

Bucky shakes his head and reaches over to grab the slick again. “That one was on purpose, I’ll admit.” Using the metal arm still wrapped in its glove, he squeezes a dollop of lube onto his flesh fingers and rubs them together to warm it up. “Next time you get me in an outfit like this, I’ll let you rip them off so we’ll be even, how about that?”

Steve looks interested, eyes bright. “So that means I’ll be getting you in an outfit like this again?”

Bucky grins wickedly and leans back down to kiss him while fitting his hand between them to rub slick fingertips over Steve’s hole to help loosen the rim to get him ready. “Sure does,” he murmurs. “I’ll even let you help pick something out next time.” The words are practically purred out just for show, but he’s telling the truth- he wouldn’t mind dressing like this again (look where it’s got him) especially now that he’s more confident about it than he was going in. Steve- and how he’s looking up at Bucky right now with the biggest doe eyes in the world- have helped with that. 

He always helps. 

He’s doing his best at that right now, even, rocking his hips down to meet Bucky’s finger when it slips inside him. “You’re better with fashion than I am,” he sighs, clutching on to Bucky’s shoulders over his tank top. “Even when you’re dressed up as Sexy Santa.”

“Wasn’t dressing _as_ him,” Bucky corrects, slotting a second careful finger inside Steve’s rim along the first while he talks. “ _Inspired_ by him. The fuck do I look like trying to turn into a bad porn trope? I know my lines are bad sometimes, but they’re not _that_ bad.”

Steve whimpers once Bucky nudges against his sweet spot, but manages to respond, even if it is with his head tipped forward to bury in Bucky’s neck. His ribbon is coming unravelled. “Depends on who you ask. So you’re not gonna make anymore jokes about putting me on the naughty list?”

“No promises,” Bucky says, and Steve doesn’t respond- can’t, with how loud he’s moaning once Bucky crooks his fingers at an angle that’s just right to press directly against his prostate. His cock is practically dripping between them- Bucky can’t blame it, not when he’s kept Steve waiting for so long. He’s always gotten wet there easy, anyways. 

“ _Ohhhh_ ,” Steve moans out, deep and devastated. “Oh- Bucky, please, c’mon and fuck me. I’m good, I’ve-“

“You’re perfect,” Bucky promises, taking the chance to slip a third finger inside once Steve’s body goes slack against the bed. “And I’m gonna, you know that. Just gotta make sure you’re ready, baby. Can’t have you getting hurt on the happiest night of the year.” The last sentence comes out teasing. 

Steve’s thigh highs are soft around Bucky’s waist when he flexes his legs in, trying to pull Bucky tighter, as if it’s his cock in him already and not his hand. Wishful thinking, Bucky supposes. 

“ _Please_ ,” he says again. “You know I can take it.”

He can, and Bucky is well aware of that, but the refusal to risk hurting him is something Bucky carried far before Hydra. He shakes his head and kisses Steve quiet. “I know you can. Just another minute, I promise. I’ll make it worth it.”

Steve groans at the refusal, but kisses Bucky’s neck while he continues towards finishing getting him stretched. “Always worth it,” he says, muffled into Bucky’s skin. He sounds genuine, even if he’s fucked out, and Bucky smiles. Steve’s just as big a sap as he is. 

“I’m done,” he says a moment later, pulling his fingers out and quieting Steve’s whine at the loss with a kiss while he wipes his fingers dry on his tank after using them to slick up his cock as well. “Condom?”

“You know the answer to that,” Steve says, still muffled. 

Bucky hums and braces himself in a better position. “I do, but you know I need to hear you say it.” They haven’t regularly used a condom since 1940, but Bucky still likes to check in just in case. He’s always been a gentleman, even if he was a fast one. 

Steve shakes his head, finally lowering it back down to the pillows to smile up at Bucky. His tag is poking out from under his neck. “Don’t want one. Just want _you_.”

“Then sweetheart,” Bucky murmurs, positioning his cock to press snugly against Steve’s lax, stretched out entrance, “You’ve got me.” And with that, he does what Steve has been waiting for since he first walked in the bedroom, and pushes inside him with a groan. 

Steve’s body welcomes him just as gratefully as his mouth does when Bucky presses their lips together in a messy kiss meant to ease the discomfort he knows inevitably comes with something the size of him breaching inside. Likewise, both his mouth and his body hold the same hot, slick feeling when Bucky’s tongue and cock both make their way inside him. 

Christ. It’s _good._ With Steve, it’s always good, but something about tonight- whether it be the occasion, the outfits, _whatever-_ it has Bucky feeling like it’s 1936 and he’s taking Steve for the first time all over again. Steve’s just as pretty under him as he was back them, even if their bodies and the bed are a whole lot different. 

Everything might be different, but this isn’t. Not where it counts. 

Bucky grunts as he starts rocking himself in, rhythm growing steadier the more he does, and Steve’s noises going higher in the process. They reach an entirely new height when Bucky hauls one of his legs up from around his waist to sit on his shoulder instead, gloved hand wrapping around his ankle with the metal plates of the grip underneath whirring. He presses a quick kiss to the sharp bone of it just because he can. 

The contrasting view of black leather against white stocking has Steve’s eyes squeezing shut, mouth falling open right after when Bucky slams into his prostate for the first time, only to do it again, and again, and again, until-

Steve’s cock jerks on his stomach, brushing right up against where the hem of Bucky’s crop top is dangling. “Bucky,” he whispers, craning his neck to the side as if he’s asking for a kiss. Bucky gives him one, right above the edge of that goddamn ribbon. “Oh, god- _c’mon_ , please fuck me.”

And Bucky does, just how he knows Steve likes it. His metal hand slips down from Steve’s leg to rest carefully over top his throat- not squeezing, not while Bucky is so unfocused- and his hips piston forward, drawing moans out of Steve for all he’s worth. Which in Bucky’s eyes is everything, so that’s exactly what he tries to give him. 

Steve’s face is blissed out, but his hands are tight where they come up to grip at Bucky’s face, tugging him in tight for a kiss and a toe curling grind in against his prostate. He sigjs out so sweet, Bucky can’t keep his mouth shut anymore. 

“S’that good?” he murmurs, hoisting Steve’s leg up a little higher just to angle his cock more precise. “My cock making a mess out of you?” Even without asking, Bucky can see just from how slick his cock is dripping between them. 

Steve nods anyways, eyes hazy. “Wanna come,” he breathes out, fingers curling deeper into Bucky’s beard. “Want it- want you to come in me so bad, Buck, lemme have it?”

And how can Bucky deny him when he asks so sweetly? He can’t. So with that, Bucky nods and wraps his left hand around Steve’s erection, smooth leather against slick skin, and starts fucking forward with a heightened speed at the same time he starts fisting tightly around Steve’s cock. 

Steve groans at the first new sensation of Bucky’s glove against him, then groans again at the friction it helps provide. Bucky smirks, biting a kiss into his jawline. 

“Like that?” he says lowly. “Like the way it feels?” Steve’s moaning is answer enough, and Bucky laughs breathlessly. “Want you to come for me. Make your hole go nice and tight around me so I can fill you up right after, got it?”

Steve’s answer this time is a nod and a quiet “ _yeah_ ” that hits Bucky right in the gut, bringing him so close to the edge of his need to get off that for a moment he’s afraid he’ll come before Steve even gets the chance to. 

He doesn’t need to worry long, though, because a moment later Steve is obeying his orders and shooting off between them, shuddering and shivering through the aftershocks of Bucky still sliding inside.

“God, you’re a miracle,” Bucky swears, hips slamming home. He stills his strokes to keep Steve from going too sensitive, but keeps his hand wrapped around him, holds him through it while he chases his own release. There’s no need to hold back now, so it only takes a few more thrusts and a sloppy kiss shared with Steve for Bucky to follow along right after him, panting into his mouth while the pulses of pleasure wrack through him. 

Once he’s finished, he pulls out, making sure to nudge the last few drops of release that pearl up from his slit against Steve’s entrance where it’s red and puffy just to make him whine and twist to bury his face in Bucky’s chest when Bucky collapses on the bed next to him. The motion smears come all over Bucky’s shirt, but he doesn’t mind too much. It wasn’t the most expensive part of the outfit, and he knows Steve always needs to cling after having this kind of sex anyways with how intense the comedown can be (no pun intended). 

The blonde does just that, groaning when Bucky moves to shift and grab a tissue from the nightstand to wipe them off. “Don’t try and run off on me,” he says sleepily. 

Bucky pets a soothing hand over his hair, having stripped both gloves off by now. “I would never. Just want to get us both cleaned up a bit so we can be more comfortable.” After a moment of silence and Steve remaining tucked into his neck, he tries again. “Think you can let me go get a towel?”

Steve sighs, but pulls back enough for Bucky to sit up. The ribbon around his neck is sticking to his skin with sweat, tag in the back crinkled beyond all hell. Bucky never wants him to take it off. “Be quick. It’s cold.”

“It’s not cold, you’re just naked.” Steve doesn’t respond, just waves Bucky off as he slips out of the bed and heads out the door to go get a towel. 

He almost decides to go to the bathroom and get one like he usually does, but changes his mind at the last minute and stops in the kitchen instead to grab a spare cloth from the drawer to wet under the faucet, and then, more importantly grab another gift for Steve from the cabinet he almost forgot he had bought on their grocery run this week. 

Once he gets back in their room, stomach already wiped clean and tank top tossed in the hamper, he finds Steve in the same position he left him in, wasting no time in getting back in bed and handing the cloth to Steve so he can wipe himself off while Bucky gets resituated. After he’s done cleaning himself up for the most part (the situation between his legs is only going to be remedied by a shower), Bucky tosses the cloth in the hamper as well. He’ll worry about it later. 

For now…

“I know we agreed on only one present,” he starts, rolling his eyes at Steve’s suspicious look. “But I don’t think this really counts. It’s just something I picked up the other day I thought you’d like.”

Steve still looks suspicious, but nods his head. “Yeah?”

Bucky pulls the package from where he had it laying next to him. “Yeah.”

It’s really not a _present-_ it certainly isn’t anything big, and it isn’t even wrapped. 

Steve clearly recognizes it just from the packaging, eyes going soft. “Where’d you find one of these? I didn’t even know they made them anymore.”

The item in question is a chocolate orange- Terry’s to be exact, the same kind they’d once eaten during the war the week after their only Christmas over there where the Colonel sent them on a mission and Peggy had felt bad enough to give the Howlies a makeshift gift to try and make up for it. Technically they hadn’t even made them back then considering the confectionery factories had been shut down to operate as aircraft repair stations, but chocolate kept for a while and even a stale bit of sweet was better than nothing. They’d been happy to have it, each getting a section to themselves to savor together. 

Steve looks happy to have one now, cradling the tin foil wrapped sphere with delicate hands. “Buck…”

“I know,” Buckys says, because he does. Like he’d said before, nostalgia hits them hard sometimes. Because traditions aren’t what’s most important- _making_ memories is good enough. “You gonna share it with me, or what?”

Steve laughs wetly, eyes shining- from the come down of the sex they just had or emotions, Bucky doesn’t know, although he suspects the latter is heighted by the former. The chocolate should help with the come down, luckily. “Can we put on some clothes, first? I really am cold.”

He probably is, from all the hormones thrown off in his head, and Bucky’s aware of just how much Steve hates the cold. Always makes winters a little rough. He nods, taking initiative to get up and get them both sweaters without Steve even having to ask. 

For Steve, green with a tinselled tree patterned on it (they’d found it at the local thrift shop while stopping to donate some of Steve’s old clothes, and Bucky knows Steve thinks it’s a little hideous, but that doesn’t stop him from wearing it whenever Bucky throws it at him- which is frequently) and for Bucky, the gag gift sweater Steve had gotten him _last_ Christmas, the black one that says “well hung” on it with letters meant to be shaped like stockings. 

Steve groans as soon as he sees it, his own chosen sweater hitting him in the face when Bucky tosses it. “I can’t believe you’re wearing that. I take back what I said about you having better fashion.”

Bucky just smiles and pulls it on- it really is comfortable. “You’re the one who got it for me!” 

“As a _joke_ , Barnes,” Steve protests, but he’s burying his face in the chest of it when Bucky rejoins him on the bed. 

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Bucky points out. “You should know after what we just did.” It’s impossible to keep the laughter out of his tone. 

Steve groans again and smacks Bucky’s arm. “So much for not being porny. I can’t _believe_ we accidentally pulled the same move for tonight.”

“I said no promises. And you know what they say about great minds.” Bucky watches Steve unwrap the orange with it set on top of his belly, skritching at his scalp all the while until Steve eventually gets it unwrapped and cracked open into sections. Before Steve can pick one up, Bucky reaches down with his opposite hand and does it for him, holding it up to his mouth with gentle fingers that Steve kisses at after accepting the sweet into his mouth. 

He swallows and looks up at Bucky with a soft smile. “Thanks, Buck.” The gratitude is followed by a kiss that tastes like chocolate and oranges and everything _Steve_. Bucky will gladly feed Steve every bite of the chocolate current resting at his fingertips if it means he can taste it that way again. 

He doesn’t have to. Steve is kissing him a second time a moment later, soft and sweet. When he pulls away, his eyes are brighter than any of the ones outside decorating the houses. 

“I love you,” he says. Then, glancing over at their clock now reading past midnight, “Merry Christmas, Buck.”

Bucky wraps him up tight in his arms and thinks to himself that he’s grateful that if he’s been able to hold onto anything that reminds him of home and how things used to be, it’ll always be this. Like most things with Bucky’s life, it’ll always be Steve. 

His past, his present (in more than one sense), his future. And like the tag still reads around Steve’s neck, he’s that for Bucky as well. 

“I love you right back, sweetheart. Merry Christmas.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed the december installment of the sub steve book club. i will see you next month (next year!) with a fic about a DIFFERENT pair of gloves...if you’re reading this the day i publish it and celebrate it, happy christmas eve and merry early christmas. if not, happy [insert plethora of other holidays] and i hope you stay safe going into the new year. i know it’s hard not being able to do normal things in general during these times, but especially around the holidays, i can understand the need for some extra cheer. take what you will from this fic, because i really hope you liked it. i’m a bit nervous about posting it truth be told because i have not seen much of lingerie dom bucky written...if this is well received he may be seen again in the future.
> 
> sending love to all of you. see you in 2021.


End file.
